Swampscott High School football team, 1913

Title:

Swampscott High School football team, 1913

Date:

1913?

Description:

Title provided by cataloger; Date estimated

Swampscott, MA, 01907

Members of the Swampscott High School football team of 1913 pose in formation on a playing field at Clark School Playground, along Paradise Road. Note the bandstand in the background near Norfolk Avenue. The Clark School Playground was later renamed Abbott Park Playground.;The first football team was organized in 1909 and nicknamed the "Sculpins." The team played three games that first season, winning one, losing one and tying one. Beginning that first season, Swampscott and Marblehead initiated a rivalry that continues to the present, one of the longest-running in Eastern Massachusetts. One of Swampscott's most successful coaches was Harold Martin, who led the team for 13 years, winning four Northeast conference championships and two co-championships as well as a Class C State title in 1943. Today, the Harold C. Martin trophy is given annually to the school within the conference that amasses the most points in competion in all sports during an academic year. Stan Bondelevitch took over as coach in 1953 and changed the team's name to the "Big Blue." Bondelevitch coached until 1976, returning to Swampscott to coach from 1983-1985. In 1972, his team won the first Division 2 Super Bowl title defeating Catholic Memorial. Coach Bondelevitch achieved one of the best win-loss records in the history of Massachusetts high school football. Four players from Bondelevitch's era later played in the NFL.--Jean F. Reardon, from Swampscott, Massachusetts : celebrating 150 years, 1852-2002, Swampscott Historical Commission, 2002.